The New Testament gives us some broad principles on how we are supposed to respond to government. For example, Romans 13 elaborates on the origin and institution of government as something that God ordains. The great theologian Augustine said that …Read More

We have to make a distinction, as I think the Bible does, between the judgment that we receive immediately upon our death, at which we are brought before Christ, and what the Bible speaks of as the last judgment. There’s …Read More

Some people insist that the Bible meant for the races to remain pure, therefore prohibiting any kind of interracial marriage. Usually two biblical texts are drawn upon to support that view. One is the fact that Noah had three sons, …Read More

As a Christian I do not believe that human beings have intrinsic dignity. I am totally committed to the idea that human beings have dignity, but the question is, is it intrinsic or extrinsic? Dignity, by biblical definition, is tied …Read More

I remember having a discussion a few years ago in the boardroom of one of the Fortune 500 corporations here in the United States. I was speaking to the chairman of the board, the president, and several vice presidents of …Read More

No specific biblical reference declares explicitly that we will recognize each other. But the implicit teaching of Scripture is so overwhelming that I don’t think there’s really any doubt that we will be able to recognize each other in heaven. …Read More

We need to make some important distinctions about the biblical meaning of “fearing” God. These distinctions can be helpful, but they can also be a little dangerous. When Luther struggled with that, he made this distinction, which has since become …Read More

A recent controversial book on this matter was titled When Bad Things Happen to Good People. A common objection to religion is, How can anybody believe in God in light of all of the suffering that we see and experience …Read More

We usually associate the love of God with the benefits we receive from him and the blessings that come from his kind and merciful hand. Because his love usually manifests itself in good things that happen to us, we sometimes …Read More

Some people view the controversy over women’s leadership in church as simply a collision between two view-points—one that espouses women’s liberation of one form or another, and the other, die-hard male chauvinism. But that’s a simplistic approach to the very …Read More

I’m convinced that our whole criminal justice system is in serious need of reformation and restructuring because it is not working and many inequities exist within it. Christians are divided about the issue of capital punishment. First, there is the …Read More

Just as an aside, the word significance has as its root the word sign. A sign is something that points to something beyond itself. We all recognize that whatever baptism signifies, Jesus obviously thought it was very important because he …Read More

Well, it certainly can be an expression of narrow-minded-ness for a Christian to say that Christ is the only way. I’ll never forget the first time somebody asked me that. I was in college, and my college professor looked me …Read More

Throughout its history, the church has struggled with the concept of what is called the “intermediate state”—our position between the time we die and the time Christ consummates his kingdom and fulfills the promises that we confess in the Apostles’ …Read More

I hear that from a lot of folks. They say to me, “I just don’t feel the need for Christ.” As if Christianity were something that were packaged and sold through Madison Avenue! That what we’re trying to communicate to …Read More